(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Boost for homebuyers

Home buying incentive nears approval

Jan 14, 2020 | 2:16 PM

Most P.A. city councillors are enthusiastic about a new incentive designed to help more people in the city buy homes.

Pending final approval from council, the program will help qualifying home buyers cover the cost of down payments by contributing 2.5 per cent of the value of the residence they wish to purchase, to a maximum of $5,000.

First time homebuyers and those who haven’t owned a home in the past four years will be eligible to apply if they fall within an income cut-off.

City administrators recommend the incentive be available to five applicants per year.

The idea, finalized by a committee in November, received widespread support around the council table on Monday night.

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“People are struggling to save cash in this day and age,” Coun. Blake Edwards told the meeting.

“We want people to buy homes; our real estate market is down. This may spike it a little bit. Even if it’s only five, it’s a positive for P.A.”

Coun. Evert Botha agreed and added it could encourage young people, some of whom might be balancing student loan payments, to settle in Prince Albert.

“This is a great tool to attract those graduates to our city, let them settle here, dig in their roots in our community,” he said.

But at least one councillor had concerns.

“As of yet, I haven’t seen any evidence that $5,000 would make that leap and target people that otherwise wouldn’t be able to pay for that home,” Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp told council.

The program will be funded out of a reserve dedicated to housing programs that currently sits at a balance of $679,069. An initiative that provides rebates to non-profits building affordable housing units and a program that helps homeowners upgrade secondary rental suites are both funded from the same reserve.

Lennox-Zepp raised concerns city council chose not to add money to that reserve during 2020 budget deliberations, despite a policy that stipulates $42,850 be transferred annually.

“We have two really excellent programs that are accessing money out of that pot,” she said.

“I know that the housing reserve is at the $700,000 mark right now, but I’m thinking about the future and this year we did not fund it at all.”

Mayor Greg Dionne brushed off her concerns.

“We’ve got lots of cash for all three of the programs, so I don’t want anyone to think we’re going to be short on anyone,” he said at the meeting.

Dionne added if the incentive, which will be given out on a first come-first serve basis, has good uptake, council should expand it, possibly to 12 or 15 applications.

“We’ve got $700,000 and we’re not using it,” he said.

The down payment assistance program is expected to receive final approval at an upcoming council meeting.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom